Barber-Ous
Barber-Ous was a uniquely-shaped robot that competed in three series of Robot Wars, also competing in the second series of Robot Wars Extreme. The original robot lost to Series 2 champions Panic Attack in the first round of Series 5, but not without damaging the latter's lifting forks. Barber-Ous 2 was more successful, making the Heat Final in Series 6, only to be stopped by Hypno-Disc, although Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit fell in the first round of Series 7 after its outrigger shattered, causing its removable link to detach. Versions of Barber-Ous The team decided to design Barber-Ous after their previous entry, Rotraktor, failed to qualify for Series 4, with a producer explaining the robot looked boring. The team wanted to build a robot with an unusual design, and Simon Rafferty was inspired by seeing a rotating barber's pole. All versions of Barber-Ous that appeared on Robot Wars shared the same theme and design. It was a unique, two-wheeled cylinder-shaped robot with a top speed of 10mph and a full-bodied spinning drum painted red and white to resemble a barber's pole. The 'full-body drum' acted as both the weapon and body of Barber-Ous, and was fitted with metal barbs in order to flip and cause tremendous damage to other robots. The robot's main body was made out of plastic, a rare choice of material for robot armour. Barber-Ous The original Barber-Ous that competed in Series 5 featured a much narrower drum than its later incarnations, as well as thin transparent wheels and two large yellow guiding bars with wheels, which presumably helped the robot steer forwards and backwards if it was inverted. The robot was powered by 2 Iskra 800 Watt motors, and featured a solid-state gyroscope to help it drive in a straight line. Each wheel was made from two 6mm sheets of polycarbonate, with a spiked rim in the middle to give more traction. The team had help from two local blacksmiths to build the motor to gearbox couplings, the drive shafts on the wheels and the mountings for the Land Rover Stub axles which held the drum. The plastic drum and poly-carbonate wheels were provided to the team by a company called QuadPlas LTD. The robot had a "float switch", which detected which way up the robot was and reversed the controls when the robot was flipped.Barber-Ous Build Page showcasing the float switch Work on the original Barber-Ous began in September 2000, along with the team's other robot The Office Party, with the robot being finished in August 2001, in time for the Series 5 qualifiers the same month.Barber-Ous diary, regarding the completion of the original Barber-Ous Barber-Ous 2 Barber-Ous 2 was rebuilt for Series 6 with a much wider drum and smaller, but thicker wheels, enabling it to have a greater surface area to attack robots more effectively. It also initially had red, black and white frames with castors which surrounded the wheels, similar in purpose to the previous guiding bars and offering both wheels some degree of protection. It could reach 10mph. For Extreme 2, Barber-Ous 2 was fitted with flexible rubber wheels in order to better withstand side-on impacts, making those frames obsolete, and a pair of small yellow flanges were added in between the wheels and the drum to aid the robot's steering. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit remained largely identical to the Extreme 2 version of Barber-Ous 2, however it featured a tougher construction and more flexible removable links which were intended to make it more resilient against the impacts of its own drum. However, the recoil of Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit's drum was still enough to immobilise it in the first round of the main competition in Series 7, indeed a result of the removable link falling out. In the Battle of the Spinners, the side of its wheels read "Slap My Top". Before Robot Wars' hiatus was announced, the team planned to enter a revised version of Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit for the next series. The robot would be relatively similar, aside for using pull-out detent pins to prevent power cutouts.Correspondence with Wiki user SpaceManiac888 Etymology The name Barber-Ous is a pun based on the word barbarous, referring to a barbaric nature, while combining this with barber, as the robot is visually made from a barber's pole. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was also the only robot on the show to be named part-sequentially without using a decimal placing or fraction in the name. Qualification At the Series 5 Qualifiers, Barber-Ous fought Razer first, with the outcome of the battle unknown. It also fought Inverterbrat in another qualifier battle. It started well, throwing Inverterbrat in the air with its drum, but then broke down and was pitted by Shunt. However, Barber-Ous was still chosen to compete in Series 5, unlike Inverterbrat, and earned its place in the Fifth Wars. Barber-Ous 2 fought Demolition Man and ICU at the Series 6 qualifiers. It was also scheduled to face Killer Carrot 2 in the same battle, although that robot would be removed from the melee. Prior to the battle, the team discovered that Barber-Ous 2's controls were accidentally reversed, making it harder to drive. With no time to correct the issue, the machine was forced to compete with the inverted controls. The winner of the battle is unknown, but all three robots qualified.Killer Carrot 2 website revealing Barber-Ous 2's opponents in its Series 6 qualifier At the Series 7 qualifiers, Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was drawn against Alchemy, Colossus and Lightning. Alchemy broke down at the start of the battle. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit lost to Lightning when it lost a wheel and broke down, but both it and Colossus received discretionary places. The team had previously failed to qualify for Series 4 with Rotraktor after it lost to The Steel Avenger, also attempted to enter Series 5 with The Office Party, but Barber-Ous was the successful qualifier out of the two. Robot History Series 5 Barber-Ous made its Robot Wars debut against sixth seeds and former champions Panic Attack. The two robots charged at each other, but just before the two made contact, Barber-Ous swerved to avoid Panic Attack. Barber-Ous turned around to bring its drum into play, and charged at the front of Panic Attack. However, it drove at the wrong angle, driving up the forks on one wheel, so the drum was spinning away but not making contact with Panic Attack. Panic Attack lifted Barber-Ous up, and though Barber-Ous was easily able to turn off the forks and get down from Panic Attack, one of its guiding wheels was still caught on the forks. This allowed Panic Attack to pull and push Barber-Ous around the arena. Panic Attack lowered its forks, allowing Barber-Ous to get free. Panic Attack charged at Barber-Ous, but Barber-Ous went straight over Panic Attack's top, breaking off the bulb for Panic Attack's light, and causing the forks to stop working. Panic Attack turned and charged Barber-Ous again, but Barber-Ous bounced up and off the forks. The two robots turned to face each other. Panic Attack got under Barber-Ous again, and Barber-Ous' spinning drum caused it to bounce off the forks and over Panic Attack again. Barber-Ous turned and attacked the front corner of Panic Attack, bouncing over the front. Panic Attack charged Barber-Ous again, which caused it to bounce up, and when it came down, the drum had stopped, with tears visible on the surface. Panic Attack nudged Barber-Ous, and as Barber-Ous tried to move away, it was only moving on one wheel. Panic Attack pushed Barber-Ous towards the pit release button. When the two robots got close to it, Barber-Ous drove off Panic Attack's forks and pressed the pit release button, but could not get away, struggling to make any movement. Panic Attack pushed it into Sgt. Bash, and smoke came out of Barber-Ous as it did so. Sgt. Bash gripped the yellow axle of Barber-Ous. The fully immobile drum spinner was then pitted by Panic Attack, eliminating it from the Fifth Wars. Series 6 Barber-Ous 2 returned much improved since the last series. Its first battle saw it against the fourth seed and returning Grand Finalist Hypno-Disc, alongside 4x4 and Granny's Revenge 2. Nevertheless, Barber-Ous 2 went straight on the attack, chasing Granny's Revenge 2 into the corner. As it closed in, 4x4 came in behind it and got under Barber-Ous 2. Sparks were sent out as 4x4 hit the spinning drum, and Barber-Ous 2 continued to chase Granny's Revenge 2 into the corner. Granny's Revenge 2 stopped by the arena wall, and Barber-Ous 2 knocked it up with its drum, almost causing the whole robot to fall over the fence. Sgt. Bash came in to corner Barber-Ous 2, and Barber-Ous 2 escaped, leaving the immobile Granny's Revenge 2 to be attacked by the House Robot. Barber-Ous 2 targeted 4x4, which had stopped moving by the CPZ. As it got close, 4x4's cloth snag became tangled on the drum. However, this did not stop it spinning, so Barber-Ous 2 knocked into 4x4, knocking it to the arena wall. As Hypno-Disc came in, Barber-Ous 2 turned to fight it, but Hypno-Disc landed a blow on Barber-Ous 2, shredding the cloth and the armour and causing the weapon to stop. Barber-Ous 2 had survived the attack, but after another blow from the disc, Barber-Ous 2 broke down. Smoke poured from the machine and Hypno-Disc hit it again. Hypno-Disc continued to attack the three immobile machines until "Cease" was called. As the last robot to have broken down, Barber-Ous 2 went through. In-between battles however, it was revealed that the wheels of Barber-Ous 2 had been severely damaged by Hypno-Disc. The team could not repair them and were forced to equip a new, untested system. However, these wheels proved to be superior, as Barber-Ous 2 effectively beat Kat 3 in the second round. At the start of the battle, Kat 3 missed with its first axe blow and Barber-Ous 2 struck Kat 3's side, knocking it up and removing a chunk of its side armour, before overturning it with a second blow from the drum and pushing the axe-wielding robot towards the wall. Kat 3, on its side, attempted to self-right, but was unable to because Barber-Ous 2 drove up against it, preventing it from getting back on its wheels. Barber-Ous 2 backed off, and Kat 3 retracted the axe to try again, but Barber-Ous 2 drove back in as Kat 3 fired, and the axe hit it. Barber-Ous 2 pushed Kat 3 against an angle grinder, and Kat 3 was stuck on its side, as it could not get the axe to grip the floor and get the machine over. After a few more swings, the side spikes on the axe broke off, making self-righting impossible. Refbot came in and counted out Kat 3. Sir Killalot then dragged Kat 3 onto the floor flipper where the end of its axe was almost torn off by Sir Killalot's claw. Kat 3 was then thrown thrown through the air, and cease was finally called. In the Heat Final, Barber-Ous 2 met Hypno-Disc again. Both robots got their weapons up to speed and circled around each other, before Hypno-Disc hit Barber-Ous 2, also getting thrown by Barber-Ous 2's drum, but Barber-Ous 2 had lost mobility after the hit from the 3-time UK Grand-Finalist. Barber-Ous 2's drum was still spinning, so Hypno-Disc bashed it again which stopped it and also damaged the robot, which was left tattered. Hypno-Disc hit Barber-Ous 2 twice more, edging it closer to the pit, where Refbot counted out the immobilised Barber-Ous 2, whilst Hypno-Disc opened the pit, slowly pushing it towards the hazard. Shunt took over from Hypno-Disc and finished Barber-Ous 2 off by finally shoving it into the pit, eliminating Barber-Ous 2 from the Sixth Wars. Extreme 2 Barber-Ous 2 singularly competed in the Challenge Belt competition. In the first round, it was drawn up against Iron-Awe 2, Terrorhurtz and Vader. Barber-Ous 2 initially stayed out of the action whilst the other three fought, coming in after Iron-Awe 2 flipped Terrorhurtz. Barber-Ous 2 threw Iron-Awe 2 over with its spinning barber's pole weapon, but it self-righted. Barber-Ous 2 pressured Iron-Awe 2 to the arena wall by Shunt's CPZ, and all four robots fought in that corner. Vader pinned Iron-Awe 2 against an angle grinder, and Barber-Ous 2 backed away. Vader was battered by the two axes of Terrorhurtz and Shunt, leaving it immobile. With Vader out, Barber-Ous 2 was picked on by Iron-Awe 2 and Terrorhurtz. The three robots fought by the flame pit, with Terrorhurtz axing Barber-Ous 2 first, before Iron-Awe 2 came in behind and also axed it. Iron-Awe 2 pushed Barber-Ous 2 into an angle grinder, then left it to chase after Terrorhurtz. Barber-Ous 2 moved away from the wall, but its drum was not spinning, the robot appeared to be struggling to move forward properly and smoke was pouring from one wheel. Iron-Awe 2 came back to attack Barber-Ous 2, axing the drum and pushing it into the centre of the arena. Iron-Awe 2 then flipped Barber-Ous 2, but ended up balancing on its rear after Barber-Ous 2 remained stuck in its axe. Terrorhurtz attacked Barber-Ous 2 as Iron-Awe 2 threw itself onto its back, with both it and Barber-Ous 2 still stuck together while Vader was thrown out of the arena by Matilda's flywheel. Once freed, Iron-Awe 2 was left unable to self-right and Barber-Ous 2 laid immobile, the latter being pitted by Terrorhurtz. With Terrorhurtz being the last robot still mobile, the judges were called to determine which other competitor would progress with it. The Judges ruled that Barber-Ous 2 was immobilised before Iron-Awe 2 was turned over, allowing Iron-Awe 2 through to the next round along with Terrorhurtz. Series 7 In Series 7, the slightly modified Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was drawn against Leveller 2, Tetanus Booster and Thunderpants in Heat E. However, the latter broke down in the entrance to the arena, leaving Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit fighting only two opponents. It started by attacking Leveller 2, but due to the front wedge, Leveller 2 bounced off, seemingly undamaged. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit tried to get side-on to attack Leveller 2 again, but Tetanus Booster came in, briefly blocking Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit from attacking Leveller 2. Tetanus Booster backed off, and Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit struck the side of Leveller 2, knocking Leveller 2 over and causing some of its armour to come flying off. Leveller 2 self-righted, but Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit got behind it and knocked it over again before it could get away. However, as Leveller 2 self-righted again, Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was not moving, and the drum slowed to a stop. Whilst Tetanus Booster fought Leveller 2, Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was rendered immobile. Leveller 2 pushed it back, but it was still not moving, so it left Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit alone to confirm this. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was counted out by Refbot and left to the mercy of Mr. Psycho. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was carried through the air by the House Robot, and dropped into the pit from high above it. This eliminated Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit from the main competition of the Seventh Wars. It was later revealed that Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit had been immobilised because its outrigger shattered, causing its removable link to detach. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit also featured in the "Battle of the Spinners" special event alongside Infernal Contraption and Shredder Evolution, aired during Heat C, prior to its main series appearance. At the start of the battle, Infernal Contraption went straight for Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit. Although Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit turned away, this allowed Infernal Contraption to push it across the arena. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit turned to try and use its drum, but Infernal Contraption turned to avoid the drum and attack the wheel of Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit. When Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit turned again, trying to use its drum, Infernal Contraption drove away. As Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit got around the other side of Infernal Contraption, Shredder Evolution hit Infernal Contraption with its discs, knocking it into Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit's drum. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit hit Infernal Contraption a couple of times, but despite flipping it over, it caused little external damage. Shredder Evolution drove around Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit and pushed Infernal Contraption back, ripping off part of one of its wheels. Shredder Evolution chased Infernal Contraption into Mr. Psycho's CPZ, and Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit came in behind it, using its drum to knock Infernal Contraption upwards. Shredder Evolution turned to attack Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit, targeting a wheel, but Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit flicked Shredder Evolution up again with the drum, then drove away. Shredder Evolution followed Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit into the arena centre, where Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit dodged the charging Shredder Evolution and thrust it up with another attack. Shredder Evolution opened the pit, and Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit drove into the CPZ to attack Infernal Contraption. However, this proved to be a mistake, as Mr. Psycho started attacking it. Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit narrowly missed the first hammer blow thanks to a push from Shredder Evolution, but the second hammer blow hit the drum. The drum of Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit was left tattered, but the robot was still mobile. As Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit escaped the CPZ, Mr Psycho turned around, but because his claw was in the lowered position, it knocked Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit into the pit, leaving Infernal Contraption and Shredder Evolution to fight alone. With Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit eliminated, Shredder Evolution went on to win the battle. Results |} |} |} Wins/Losses *Wins: 2 *Losses: 5 Series Record Barbteam.jpg|Team Rotraktor in the pits BarberOus 2.png|Barber-Ous 2 after being completed Barberous2Pits.jpg|Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit's bench in Series 7 Barber-Ous 2 Pits.png|Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit in the pits Outside Robot Wars Barber-Ous was originally built for a Discovery Channel competition called Robots Revenge but was deemed too powerful to compete. Preparing for a possible Series 8, the team were planning to build a new machine to compete alongside an improved Barber-Ous. The machine was equipped with two flywheels incorporated onto an electric axe, with a calculated energy level of 40kJ. Upon being tested on team captain Simon Rafferty's concrete driveway, the flywheel axe managed to penetrate through 6 inches of reinforced concrete. The robot was ultimately left unnamed after Robot Wars' original cancellation, but one proposed name was IΩ (after the formula for angular momentum). Rafferty also considered entering a revised version of the robot for the reboot (as well as a Barber-Ous 3), but ultimately did not enter the show because of filming commitments. After Robot Wars entered its hiatus, team captain Simon Rafferty kept the unnamed robot and Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit until 2015, in the hopes that Robot Wars would return to TV. The robots were eventually scrapped, just one year before [[Robot Wars: Series 8|Series 8 of Robot Wars]] was announced. Simon Rafferty now works in film SFX, being credited for his work on films such as Spider-Man: Far From Home and Fast & Furious 9.Simon Rafferty's IMDB page Trivia *In all five of its losses, Barber-Ous was pitted. This also happened to Tiberius, Revenge of Trouble and Strife and The Executioner. *After the Series 6 Heat Final, Simon Rafferty claimed he was planning to add "skirts" to the side to absorb blows from spinning weapons, but this idea was never implemented.Simon Rafferty's interview regarding possibly adding side-skirts to Barber-Ous 2 *Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit, Iron-Awe 2.1, Sub-Version 1.1, Malc 1.5 and Judge Shred 2½ are the only robots to be named part sequentially, with Barber-Ous 2'n a Bit being the only one not to specify a decimal or fraction. *Rafferty designed the canopy opening mechanism used on the A-Wings on an accelerating linkage he saw equipped on an robot with an axe. *When interviewed for a CAD Engineer role for Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi, Simon Rafferty was first asked about his experiences on Robot Wars. References External Links *Barber-Ous website {archived} Category:UK Series competitors Category:Robots with more Losses than Wins Category:Robots from West Sussex Category:Robots with alternate versions Category:Robots to never have a judges' decision Category:Robots with Drums Category:Invertible Robots Category:Robots to appear in Battle Cards Pack 4 Category:UK Heat Finalists Category:Robots with puns for names Category:Robots which debuted in Series 5 Category:Axlebots